Shi-Tennoji School in UK

52°18′49″N 0°31′24″E / 52.3136265°N 0.5233398999999963°E / 52.3136265; 0.5233398999999963InformationTypePrivate high schoolClosed2000

Shi-Tennoji School in UK (英国四天王寺学園, Eikoku Shitennōji Gakuen) was a Japanese international secondary school in Herringswell, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, near Bury St Edmunds. The Japanese government classified the school as a Shiritsu zaigai kyoiku shisetsu (私立在外教育施設) or an overseas branch of a Japanese private school.^[1] Shi-tennoji International Limited owned the school, and the organisation intended to develop Japan-United Kingdom relations with the school.^[2]

History

It was in operation beginning in 1985.^[3] The former campus includes the Herringswell Manor, built in 1901.^[4] It was used as a country house for a family in Blackheath, London. Prior to Shi-Tennoji's use, the campus was used as a school to educate children of U.S. soldiers, as well as being a Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh ashram.^[3]

Most of the students were Japanese,^[2] and it used Japanese as its main instructional medium and prepared students for entrance examinations for Japanese universities. Circa 1998 most employees lacked comprehension of the English language.^[5] The students and staff did Buddhist rituals.^[3] Lesley Downer of The Independent described the school as "like a little Japan in the middle of the English countryside."^[5]

The school closed on 17 July 2000,^[6] due to declining student figures.^[4] The Japanese Education Ministry decertified the school by 2001.^[7] By 2007 the property was being converted into residences by City & Country.^[3]

Campus

The property has 8 acres (3.2 ha) of space. The Mock Tudor manor, built in 1906, is listed as a Grade II historic site. The property also had a coach house. Upon its opening Shi-Tennoji School already had two dormitory buildings and a gymnasium dating from its previous uses. Tim Sargeant of the building renovation firm City & Country Group stated the "large, dark roofs" were defining features of the dormitories.^[3] Phil McNeill of The Daily Telegraph described the gymnasium as appearing "like an aircraft hangar", and he described that structure and the pre-conversion dormitory blocks as "ugly".^[3] The school owners added a Buddhist temple, which only had low-level windows so occupants could concentrate on religious exercises. Shi-Tennoji School also had an archery court, a teahouse, and a Japanese-style water garden.^[3]

Conversion into flats

After the school's closure, the properties were turned into a 57-residence flat complex. The Tudor manor now houses ten residences; its smallest accommodation was a one bedroom unit priced at £215,000 in 2007, and the largest and most expensive was a unit on the first floor priced at £550,000 that year. The coach house is now a three-residence unit. The dormitories were converted into a pair of 15-bedroom flat blocks called The Courtyards. For aesthetic purposes, the developer added dormer windows and changed the roofs to have lighter colours.^[3]

The Buddhist temple was converted into residences with two-three bedrooms each; McNeill stated that this was possibly the first time a Buddhist temple in Great Britain was converted into flats. The developer added a second storey at the temple roof, sliding glass doors, and dormer windows, as the temple was not listed as a historic site. The ground floor rooms post-conversion still had 12-foot (3.7 m) ceilings, above the standard 8-foot (2.4 m). In 2007 the Buddhist temple conversion's apartment prices were between £485,000 and £525,000. The developer also converted the archery court and teahouse into new uses.^[3]

According to McNeill, many of the residences were "likely" to be utilized as second homes.^[3] Some residents of Herringswell tried to prevent the dormitories being converted into apartments, but this failed.^[3]

References